I never was the kind of artist who wanted to keep making variations of the same work over and over, striving instead to always work on distinct projects that span a variety of styles, media and executions. As a young artist in 1986, I was greatly influenced by an exhibition at the New Museum, Choices: Making an Art of Everyday Life, a show about artists who made their lives the subject of their work. That exhibit inspired me to work in new ways and places like Coney Island, where my work became accessible to wider, more populist audiences beyond just the art world. That memory resonated in recent years, as I began a new aspect of my art practice. Beginning in 2015, I have embraced a different life theme each year; Magic (2015), Play (2016), Curiosity (2017), Happiness (2018) and Love (2019).
This blog has been silent for over 18 months, and there’s a reason behind that. At the end of 2017, I went into digital bankruptcy, losing a Drobo array containing all my digital backups going back to the mid 1990’s. I could have spent a fortune rescuing it, but opted instead to let it go and just move forward. This, along with a second visit to the temples surrounding Siem Reap, Cambodia lead me to reconsider life’s priorities and explore happiness instead.
Having worked with computers more than half my lifetime, I’ve become increasingly aware of how machines have rewired our brains with notifications and constantly connected internet culture. Like many others, in the aftermath of the 2016 election I began to question if digital culture has indeed improved our lives, or if it is just further dividing our society? Despite all of man’s knowledge being at our fingertips, the ways social media has been abused to spread misinformation, erode civility and divide society is truly upsetting. There’s a lot to be said on that subject, but one thing’s for sure; “always on” digital culture had begun to leave me feeling pulled in many directions and unable to be as focused as I once was.
The exploration of happiness brought me back to regularly practicing yoga and meditation, which was something I began to study in the early 1990’s at Jivamukti Yoga School in New York. My original intention for this was to learn sword swallowing, but what I learned was so much greater, and the change I have felt since resuming a daily asana and meditation practice has been profound. Training the mind to be quiet has spread throughout all aspects of my life and become the driving force behind art that I have been making these last few years. If you follow me on Instragram, you probably have seen some of this work, but it’s all building toward a “light bath” installation, a meditative environment involving lumia reflections and refractions generated by shining light through these glass sculptures. I’m excited about this work and am pleased to share some of it here for the first time:
In July and August of 2019, I received another residency at Starworks in North Carolina. This residency included time for both glass production and the beginning of prototyping the lumia installations that are the end goal of this work. I was able to engineer wall mounts for some of the pieces, while simultaneously exploring a number of methods of generating lumia light refractions. Here are a few images from this next phase of the project’s development.
I am actively seeking opportunities including residencies, exhibitions, and teaching engagements in support of completing this work and am really excited to see what happens next. Stay tuned!
Frederick G. Kahl 